Doug Koenig Leaves Smith & Wesson To Be Team Ruger Captain
Doug Koenig will exchange the Smith & Wesson hat for one with the Ruger logo this season. The 18-time Bianchi Cup Winner has joined Team Ruger, and will shoot Ruger pistols and rifles in 2018.
Doug Koenig, one of the greatest pistol shooters of all time, has a new team. The long-time Team Smith & Wesson stalwart has joined newly-formed Team Ruger as its Team Captain. Doug will shoot Ruger 1911-style handguns and Ruger polymer pistols. Interestingly, Koenig will also field a Ruger Precision Rifle for some PRS-style events. Doug has actually done pretty well in the past shooting long guns. He won the 2015 NRA World Shooting Championship — a multi-day event featuring rifles and/or shotguns in most of the stages.
This is the first time Ruger has ever fielded a full-fledged pro team. It is an interesting development for Ruger, which has a product mix suitable for a variety of disciplines: Rimfire Challenge, Cowboy Action, IDPA/USPSA, Steel Challenge, and even PRS (Factory Class and Gas Gun Division).
Why is Koenig leaving Smith and Wesson? It’s mostly about being “on the same page”. Talking to Jim Shepherd of the Shooting Wire, Doug explained: “I’ve been with Smith & Wesson for a very long time — and I want to be really clear about this – they’ve always been good to me.” But, there had been changes at S&W in recent years: “We were going in different directions, and I’d already told them I wasn’t re-signing this year. And when I was approached by Ruger, they were interested in my thoughts on guns.” Read Shooting Wire Report.
Though best known as a pistolero, Koenig is a great long gun shooter as well. Doug won the 2016 NRA World Shooting Championship, beating a field of talented 3-Gun aces. Photo DougKoenig.com.
Doug was impressed with Ruger’s design staff. He said they have already incorporated upgrades he wanted: “When I talked with Ruger engineers, they asked me what I thought — instead of telling me what they were going to do. So, I told them what I would like to see in a Ruger competition pistol, and it seemed like they were really listening.” In fact, Ruger immediately made upgrades: “A few days after Christmas I got a pair of Ruger pistols with the exact changes I’d talked about already done to them. That is exciting”.
Doug Koenig’s List of Championships:
10-time World Champion
18-time Bianchi Cup winner
2016 NRA World Shooting Champion
More than 70 National Championships
6-time World Action Pistol Championship Winner
3-time World Speed Shooting Champion/Steel Challenge
Watch Doug Koenig’s Championship Season TV show on the Pursuit Channel: Wednesday 5:30 pm (Eastern); Friday 9:00 pm (Eastern); Saturday 1:30 am (Eastern) West Coast prime-time.
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Tags: Bianchi Cup, Doug Koenig, Ruger Precision Rifle, Smith Wesson, Team Ruger
Ruger has done well getting Doug Koenig aboard as Ruger’s first Team Captain!! He is a huge presence in Shooting Disciplines and will do Great things with Ruger!
Interesting, very interesting. I am optimistic that much good will come from this association.
This is a huge deal for Ruger, now if they could get Miculek too they could dominate. I love Ruger pistols, so under rated. That all changes. Koenig is one of the best ever.. so damn fast. Hope Ruger actions can keep up with him
I have positive feelings about this.
Nothing wrong with switching who signs your paycheck, and I think Ruger made a smart business decision to sign Doug as quick as they did.
On the other side of this, maybe S&W should look in the mirror as to what they are doing as they have top people and shooters walking because they (as a company) are not listening, and if you have had any conversations with them in recent months (S&W and TC) they are not listening to their costomers either. Hopefully they will get the hint and open their ears to the masses not just listen to market trends and accounts.
This is exciting and will be huge for Ruger….18 years smelling gun powder the man knows what he is talking about…S/W loss,Ruger’s gain….
What rifle and caliber does he use for long range shooting and what scope does he have on it